Choosing Image Editing Software

From a professional's point of view, Adobe's Photoshop CS (Creative Suite) series is the 'must have' software for editing images. It basically boils down to the extra functions that come with the Creative Suite programs than their less-expensive cousins, Photoshop Elements, of which Elements 7 is the latest installment, doesn't posses. But again, it's down to what you require, and it may be that the Elements software contains all the tools you need for the image editing you want to carry out. Indeed, this software is very popular with the enthusiast photographer. In addition to these popular products, there are alternatives that do pretty much the same things but in a different layout, and at a different price. Corel, for example, through its Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 allows you to add many professional touches to your images but without incurring the expense. There is also an array of free imaging software that can be downloaded from their respective sites. Picasa (www.picasa.google.com), for example, is a great program for image manipulation, and then there's GIMP (www.gimp.org), which stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. Although these programs do not possess the huge range of tools of Creative Suite, they are great for people just starting out in image editing, and they wont' burn a hole in your wallet. As with buying any of the products mentioned, have a shop around, read reviews in What Digital Camera and come to a well-researched decision. Amazon.co.uk Widgets